


Moving Forward

by Jediqueer



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Lesbian Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Pre-Fall of Overwatch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-17 13:29:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11276250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jediqueer/pseuds/Jediqueer
Summary: A pre-fall Overwatch Story about an upgrade to Lena's accelerator that gives her a lot to contemplate.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (Note: my timeline knowledge is fuzzy- I apologise but hope it's still fun to read. First ever fanfic attempt, too. So you know, go easy on me.)

Morning came like an unwelcome house guest - far too early, obnoxiously announcing its presence an a manner which was impossible to ignore, and definitely wouldn't be gone in time for the damage to be reversible. As the alarm bell squawked and the shutters opened, Lena Oxton rolled over in her military cot and groaned- feeling the tell-tale snag against her back, stomach and chest. Still not used to that. As other new members woke up in the bunks around her, she realised there was no getting out of it, and heaved herself out of bed. Again- she wasn't used to the weight strapped to her torso, the pinching and pulling at her pyjama top as the Chronal Accelerator made it's presence known. Sometimes it even kept her up at night, when she just couldn't get comfortable. She sighed, yawning, and gave a few 'good mornings' in response to her fellow Cadets, who proceeded to get dressed and file out of the room to the left. Lena, however, had a different routine. She slipped on a pair of loose sneakers, still in her PJ's, and left through the door on the right, through Watchpoint Gibraltar's massive hangar. There were a few people up already - Commander Reyes addressing some of his Blackwatch troops- and intimidating sight, in their jet-black combat armour equipped with glowing red lights, their helmeted faces expressionless save for two red lights where eyes ought to be. 'Good thing they're on our side...' Lena though to herself. She received a wave from a pair of scientists outside the server room - Adams and Granger, she didn't know them too well, but they were always up, always waved... it was practically reflex by now. Making her way under the little dip, then up and out of the cavern part of the base was built into, Lena got a glimpse of the ocean and a rush of sea air- and the sight of the sun reflecting over the water in a flurry of orange and gold. While the divergences in her daily routine got old fast... she never got tired of that sight. Rounding the corner, there were far less people in sight - at least, on the outside. But she knew the drill at this point. 

As expected, when she finally entered Winston's lab it was like a beehive, Doctors and Scientists buzzing about the place taking readings on things so complex that when she did get a rare glimpse at a datapad- it just looked like scribbles to her. But, right on cue, she felt an arm on her shoulder. "Good Morning, Lena! How are you today?" came the flowery voice. Lena turned her head and smiled brightly. "I'm alright, Doctor Ziegler. You?" As always, the ever-overworked Doctor Angela Ziegler looked perfect, no matter how much she burned the candle at both ends. She gave a sunny little chuckle, soft but reassuring, and brushed a stray lock of hair from her face. "None of your concern, dear, I am your doctor after all." she noted, chuckling. That soft laugh ALWAYS made Lena's cheeks go red. Without fail. She wasn't a particularly dressy person, nor was she too fixed on her own appearance - but something about Doctor Ziegler always made Lena worry she looked too Tomboyish, or scruffy- or something along those lines that literally never bothered her in anyone else's presence. And if Angela had noticed the blush on her freckled cheeks, she'd never pointed it out. With a cautious nudge, Angela steered her up the stairs and through an iron door, down a long, dimly lit corridor. "We uhm... we actually tentatively might have some good news for you today, dear." Angela stated. "A little something which Winston has been working on- I don't understand the mechanics of it, but- oh, he'd better tell you himself." she said, smiling... a look of ever so slight concern on her face that Lena noticed. As she entered the second room, chamber, really... she was greeted to the familiar site of Winston seated rather comfortably in a rubber tire, clicking away at a keyboard with his feet, and a second suspended above him with his hands. "Hey, Big guy!" she called- he tended to get lost in his own world and hadn't noticed them come in. "Oh! Lena, and Doctor Ziegler! Ready for the uh... morning routine." he said, shifting the keyboard above to one side and leaning forward. With a few clicks- another monitor shifted to his side, and Dr Ziegler took a seat by his right. "Go right through- and there's something new we're going to be testing today." He said, smiling... but he had that tiny glimmer of concern Mercy had, too.

The room she had been in was a rectangular thing, small, narrow and cramped, with massive windows facing a large, darkened chamber that the room itself served as a gateway for. This chamber was mostly a tangle of wires and cables running along the ground, leading to a massive, spherical structure in the center- which itself was also a tangle of cables and wires, from the outside. There was a small smooth spot on one side- about four foot high and two across- fitted with a handle. Lena stepped over some of the loose cables- at this point, she'd practically memorised their location- and opened the door, squeezing her way inside. The inside of the Cell was brightly lit and mostly smooth, but cramped. It was about ten feet high and ten feet across inside... still not a pleasant place to be if you didn't like small spaces There was a military cot to one side- her uniform and pistols neatly set ontop of it, and a shower set to the other. A voice crackled over a radio from the inside. "Okay, Systems on. Cameras off - you can get dressed, Lena." came Winston's voice. She sighed, and set about undoing the many seals and clasps that kept her Accelerator from slipping or coming off.   
This room generated a field that kept her present without it- it was the only room she could take it off. Every morning since the accident, she came here and ran her routine. Accelerator off, cold shower, uniform on, Accelerator on. It got to her, at times... she loved Overwatch, but she relied on it just to survive. She couldn't leave or quit... she could never leave, anyway, because the only "Chroniton Chambers" in existence were on Overwatch Bases. No need for them anywhere else. As she set about getting it off and stepping into the shower, she called "So this big surprise that you two are worried about? What's up with that?" she stated over the rush of water. Silence for a moment, until Winston's voice. "Well, bluntly... this may be the last time you need the chamber. You see I uhm... I found a way to project Chronal Regulation waves from the Accelerator OUTWARD, rather than just bombarding them inward, and it would, in theory, create a large bubble you could walk around in without-" "Needing to wear the Accelerator every minute of every day!?" Lena interrupted, exclaiming- practically slipping out of the shower. Angela's voice rang back, a little less jovial. "Well yes but Winston and I have seen that the process holds significant risks to your wellbeing, things we could have missed or failed to account f-" "But I'd be able to just carry it- o-or walk around in an are without it on at all? And I could sleep and shower without it on?!" Lena said, ever more excited and ever less impatient. She grabbed her uniform, ecstatically tugging it on- falling over her long, gangly limbs in excitement as she rushed herself ready, still leaving water to dampen her suit and make the floor wet. Winston spoke up. "Yes, those would be some of the benefits, but it's not without-" "It could kill you, Lena. The waves directed outward could completely scatter you across the time-stream! When Bombarded inward and directly into and against you- they act as far as we can tell, like a compressing force that keeps you together, it allows you to keep your place in time and control it, to a degree. But this method... in the simplest terms, creates a bubble that loops in on itself then pushes out on itself... forever. The effect will either be creating a sphere you can exist in unaided, keeping you in your place in time, or completely disintegrating your with no way to get you back the first time you slip out of Sync with the timestream. Unlike before, where the only risk was catching you... you would die, Lena." Mercy spoke gravely- insistently.   
Lena immediately got the impression this wasn't a new plan- this was something that had been argued and debated thoroughly... and it seemed like no one could say if it was for better or for worse to try this out. Winston's voice spoke up after a long silence... awkwardly trying to cut the tension. "Th-though I would inform you... I've made the process as safe as possible. The likelihood of the device functioning as intended is 72.32%. If it was anything lower than 60%... we wouldn't have let you uhm... we wouldn't have presented it to you. But it's still a big decision." He said... in the voice of someone trying very hard to find the bright side. Lena paused a moment. "But if it succeeded... I'd have my freedom back a bit more, right?" she asked. Winston gave a short "Well, yes..!" in reply. "I wouldn't have to come in every morning and every night... I wouldn't have to stay at Gibraltar or Switzerland... I could go home for longer than a couple of days at a time?" she asked, again. This time, Mercy replied. "Lena... I know how hard it's been for you this last year, but-"   
"I want to do it." Her reply was immediate. 'Hard' wasn't the right word. She missed home. She missed her family, her friends... she missed the days she could go to places without being shot at, when her changes of scenery didn't come from entering combat zones. She missed being able to sleep in any position other than on her side, to be able to get up without heaving two massive slabs of machinery every single morning. Most of all... she missed being able to hug people without Jamming metal into their chests. The accelerator kept her alive, Overwatch kept her alive, but she had so many days where she missed so many things, this just felt like a chance she had to take. There was a long, loaded silence. And then Angela spoke. "Leave the Accelerator and step out of the Chroniton Chamber. Make your way over to us... the new accelerator is online." she said, quietly. Lena spoke again. "Doc- Angela, Winston... I want this, okay? Anything happens? ...Don't you dare blame yourselves or I'll bloody well haunt ya." she said, managing a nervous chuckle- one reciprocated equally nervously by Winston and Angela. "Opening the door..." She said.

The door creaked open, and Lena took her first, ginger step outside. Her foot touched the ground... and there was no hollow, cold feeling accompanying it. She vividly remembered being a "Ghost". She could feel herself but only in the sense that she could feel that she was nowhere. And sometimes, she felt nothing at all, only learning she'd been gone for days after the fact. Her "Phasing" had never been instant... the fact it came and went erratically was part of what made it so awful, back before the accelerator. She stepped forward, tentatively, looking at Winston and Angela through the glass. Angela waved, anxiety all of her face even as she tried to be calming... Winston seemed fixed on the monitors and dials she couldn't see. Lena made her way across the room. She was walking a little quicker, though... she felt it wouldn't make any difference how fast she went if this failed to work. As she finally opened the door, she felt a little tingle in her fingers and toes- and saw the Device in question. It was smooth, rounder than her other one... pure white with a blue light in the centre, and looked much lighter, too. "...am I alright?" she asked. Mercy looked her over, then back at Winston. Winston's attention was fixed to the Monitors. "At the moment, yes... but following your cycle... you're going to phase in a few moments. Stay calm- as yet, the device is holding you together just fine... but this is the moment of truth." he looked over and smiled at her. "You're going to be okay, Lena. Just breathe." Angela looked increasingly worried, increasingly trying to hide it. "We have you, alright..? You're going to be just fine." Lena nodded, exhaling sharply and closing her eyes. Winston began to count. "In three... two... one." Lena felt a small tingle run up her spine. "Was... wait... was that it?" she asked, looking at the pair. Winston looked at Mercy. Mercy looked at Winston. Both practically jumped on Lena, Winston lifting her off of her feet in a massive hug, Angela trying in vain to encompass them both in her arms. "We did it! Hahaaa! We did it! I knew we could! I knew we would! OH Lena I'm so glad you're alright!" laughed Angela. Lena grinned... her eyes welling up with tears a bit. Winston put her down and Angela relented a moment later, and she sniffed softly. "Bl-bloody hell, that was terrifying..." she uttered, wiping at her eyes. Angela looked at her with a wide smile, draping an arm over her. "Oh, dear..." Winston chuckled, softly. "Now you'll uh... you'll have that extra freedom you've been after. You could put in a request with Commander Morrison to go home for a little while?" He suggested. Lena found herself a little overcome- gently placing a hand on the accelerator's smooth surface. This one little thing... just this tiny change... and she could be normal again. Or close to it, at least. She smiled a bit. "For the moment... I think I am home." she smiled, feeling content and reassured.


	2. The new Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Wasn't sure I'd continue this... I guess I am, don't know for how long? Didn't expect anyone to like it!  
> EDIT: So because I'm new to the format Athena's dialogue got deleted- I fixed and put it back, oops..!)

There were a few rather quick tests to be run after the new accelerator proved to be a success, the majority of which just required Lena to be present rather than actually do anything strenuous. Monitoring her to check if she was sliding out of sync with the rest of the timeline, checking on her to make sure she wasn't disappearing- though Angela made it a little less dull than it could have been, poking her without warning at intervals and chiming "Nope, still here!" every so often- keeping things light. Lena took immense pleasure in it, however... for the whole time she could idly pace around the room without the Accelerator strapped to her, and even when she DID have to put it on- it was infinitely lighter and more comfortable than the previous model. And the shiny, white exterior looked far more sleek than the clunkier blue one had. When everything was settled and she slipped into it... it was like wearing a very light backpack, rather than, well, having a small engine strapped to her chest. Before too long there wasn't much need for an attending physician, and so the tremendously Overworked Dr Ziegler stepped out with a soft goodbye to see to her other patients. Winston and Lena remained, though Winston was somewhat focused on the various screens and monitors in front of him. "Everything is settled, Lena- how does it feel?" Asked Winston, looking her over at long last.  
"Fits perfectly and it barely weighs a thing- god, that last one didn't half kill my back sometimes. And I'm sure the weight of it was throwing me off a little. I mean... that's the excuse I'm using for all those times I uh... tripped up in front of Lieutenant Wilhelm." she laughed, only a little embarrassed. "It's perfect... Honestly I don't think I've ever looked forward to a night's sleep more, I can barely remember what it feels like to sleep on my back. Or my front. Not to mention that I'm not like, stuck here forever, y'know-" she said- then immediately stopped. Winston looked a little hurt. "Aw... Mate... I... I really didn't mean it like-"  
"No, No," Winston Interrupted, waving his hand dismissively. "I understand, you've been missing your family and with the accelerator and your... unique situation... Overwatch is the only place you could live because of it. You don't want to feel like property, I understand. The uh... the other apes on the Moonbase felt the same." He frowned. Then laughed. "Well... now it's my turn to put my foot in it." He said, smiling a little. "Really, Lena, the whole reason I did this was because you're one of the few people here who HASN'T treated me like a resource and, in some way... I didn't want you to feel how I've been feeling. I do rather well 'in captivity'. But you don't. And... well, I know you've been missing your friends and family and it's different for you, because you have friends and family to go back to. I don't. I don't have anything to miss." He said, smiling... but with more than a little air of sadness to his look, too. Lena frowned at that, just a little.  
"Winston... like... well first of all if anyone calls you a resource, be it some other cadet or commander Morrison himself, you let me know and I'll set their head straight, right? And you know that no matter what happens you're gonna be my best mate, and I'm always gonna be around to see you, right? Like... I dunno. Back before this I had this vision of ending up an old lady stuck going from base to base cuzza the accelerator and the one thing that made the idea of never bein' able to leave was that I'd always have my best mate around to keep me company, right? So just... yeah. Just cuz I can see my family doesn't mean you're not a part of that family, y'know?" She smiled, lopsidedly. Her way with words wasn't perfect... but it seemed to do the trick. Winston adjusted his glasses and smiled back at her.  
"Yeah. My uh... best Mate." he replied- and Tracer couldn't help but laugh a bit. Honestly any time any of the other members of the team had attempted using english slang it had sounded as ridiculous as her trying to talk like an American. She grinned back at him widely, hoping up and sitting on the edge of the desk.  
"Besides, if you ever did want to leave... Hah... I'm sure you, Me and Genji could get a place together, innit? Team "Well what do we do now", Right?" She grinned... and it wasn't totally clear if she was being serious or not. Winston let out a sudden, bellowing laugh that almost startled her enough to make her fall off of the desk. "What? What you laughing at, it wasn't THAT clever..." She asked, bemused and concerned. Winston rubbed his eyes with a large, leathery hand.  
"Oh, nothing, only... I was imagining a Sit-Com about a Cyborg ninja, a Time-Displaced Adventurer, and a Genetically Engineered Gorilla from the moon all sharing an apartment..." he laughed, his huge frame trembling so much the tire actually let out a protesting little creak and he had to make himself stop.  
"Clearly, if any of us left Overwatch... or if Overwatch ever came to an end, that's our best possible option, right?" Lena immediately joined him in laughing like crazy. "Oh my god, and then what- we get Lieutenant Wilhelm and Torbjorn to be our Wacky Neighbours?" She giggled, pulling her goggles down and letting them hang around her neck. She rubbed her eyes, chuckling to herself. "I would watch that show. We should trademark this now." she said, letting out a happy little sigh and leaning back on the desk, looking over at him. They both took a little breath... then Lena asked "But like... I mean maybe we'll leave, but I don't think Overwatch is ever actually gonna end, is it? I mean... the Commander's a hero - Commander Reyes and Captain Amari are too, all they've ever done is protect the world. That Petras bloke... you don't think anyone's actually taking him seriously, right?" She said it almost dismissively... but dismissive in that she didn't want to acknowledge the possibility of it becoming reality any time soon. "Well... I want to say it's unlikely, that's for sure. London helped, definitely, and honestly getting someone like you in the public eye has definitely put Overwatch back in the world's good books. They want the fresh faced hopeful Overwatch back... like at the start of the crisis, really. And... Well, Commander Reyes is a hero, but increasingly he's had to do some un-heroic things that haven't helped keep our image positive..." he mused, quietly. "I'm not sure a shutdown is likely to occur but we're already seeing Overwatch's jurisdiction decrease. It's... it's not a possibility I'm willing to completely dismiss, that's all." He said, thoughtfully. Lena wasn't sure what to say... and she wasn't as much of a pragmatist as him, that was for sure.  
"Well, I mean our flatshare Idea is still on the table if it DOES end up going that way." She grinned. "And I-"  
_'Lena Oxton, Please Report to Commander Morrison's office. He has requested your presence for debriefing.'_ came a crackling, synthesised voice- and Lena actually did fall off of the desk upon it's abrupt interjection, just barely stopping herself from tripping completely. "Bl-bloody hell Winston, I forgot about your uh... whadidjacallit?" before Winston could reply, the voice rather sharply retorted; _'I am Athena, An AI programme created by Winston to assist in Overwatch operations. Designation 'Whadidjacallit' is neither accurate nor a real word.'_ came the snarky reply.  
Winston chuckled. "She's uh- a little buggy. Still working on making her use contractions and informal language but she's learning- uh, look, you had better see what the Commander wants, but... feel free to come back and chat whenever you can or want to. See you later?" He said, smiling somewhat awkwardly. Lena returned his grin, nodding. "'Course I'll see you later! And thanks, again... a million times over for everything, mate." She said, making her way out rather quickly. "Bye big guy! Bye ATHENA!" she said, declaring the last one rather pointedly... before she slipped out of the steel doors, and made her way through the lab, out across the pathway, and towards Commander Morrison's office.


End file.
